Too Late Love
by ArwenTurner
Summary: Harry and Hermione go on a tragic summer cruise that will change their lives forever. Will they get to confess their love in time? -Loosely based on Titanic. HPHG- Chapter 3 Up 7 August.
1. An Invitation

** Chapter 1.  
  
**_AN...Yes, this is loosely based on Titanic...I'll try not make it horribly so, to make it as original as possible. _**  
**  
Harry and Ron were sitting in the common room one Thursday evening in June, doing transfiguration homework, when a grinning Hermione came in with a letter in her hand.  
  
"I've a proposition for you two!" She said, bounding over.  
  
"What?" They looked up in interest.  
  
"My parents and I are going on a cruise over the summer, and they've said you two can come too!" She grinned, shaking the letter.  
  
"Wicked!...Oh, but I can't!" Ron said, "We're going to stay with Charlie in Romania."  
  
"Oh, well, that's ok. Harry?" Hermione asked.  
  
"You're asking me if I'd rather go back to the Dursleys? Let me think about it." He answered sarcastically.  
  
"So you'll come?" She grinned.  
  
"Yeah!" He smiled back.  
  
"Ok, I'm away to the owlry to reply to mum." She said, skipping out of the room.  
  
Harry watched her go and then turned to Ron, who was staring at him, slightly amused.  
  
"This should be interesting." Ron said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh come on. You and Hermione....together all summer?"  
  
"Yeah, it's going to be awkward, but, we've talked about this before, Ron. I can't do anything about it. She's my friend."  
  
"So you're not going to say anything? All summer?"  
  
"NO. We'll just be two friends on holiday together...It'll be fine." He added, at the look on Ron's face.  
  
"Whatever." Ron smirked, before going back to his homework.  
  
----  
  
Hermione smiled all the way up to the owlry, where she wrote a small reply to her parents and attached it to one of the school's owls, and it promptly flew out of the window to make it's delivery. '_This is going to be a great holiday_', she smiled.  
  
---  
  
A week later, Hermione joined Harry and Ron in the Great Hall for breakfast.  
  
"Morning!" She greeted the boys.  
  
"Morning Hermione." They chorused in reply.  
  
They started tucking into the food which had appeared on hundreds of plates, lined along the table, when a fluttering could be heard overhead; Post had arrived. Dozens of owls flew in and flew about the room, landing in front of the correct recipients. Hermione jumped as a brown owl landed on her plate of toast. She untied the letter and read, while Ron helped himself to more bacon.  
  
"Whashirsay?" He said, with a mouthful of the bacon he had just picked up.  
  
Eyes still on the letter, Hermione muttered, "It's from my parents," as she took a fresh slice of toast and ate as she finished reading. Swallowing her toast before she finished, with a pointed look at Ron, she turned to Harry.  
  
"They said that we don't leave until a week after the holidays start, but you can come and stay at our house until then, it'll be easier..." She said, to a nodding Harry. "They'll meet us at the station off the train."  
  
"That's cool." Harry said. "Your parents wont mind?"  
  
"Of course not!" Hermione said, shocked.  
  
"I just mean...with me being...a guy and all..." He said.  
  
"Yeah, well, they know we're friends, and just that." She said firmly.  
  
"Yeah." Harry said, but his stomach had dropped several feet. '_Just that?_', he thought. Even though he knew he'd never be able to speak to her about his feelings, it still hurt him to hear hey say it.  
  
"Come on, we'd better get to class." Ron said, getting to his feet, as the three of them joined the crowds exiting the Great Hall. They made their way down to the dungeons for Potions with a sigh. They found their seats....as close to the back as possible, and got out their things. Their heads jerked up as Snape swept hurriedly into the class, robes flaring behind him.  
  
"Quiet, class." He said, and the few students who were actually talking stopped and looked up to him.  
  
Harry, however, was looking at his desk. What Hermione had said at breakfast was still playing over and over in his head. '_We're just friends_.' He knew it was stupid, he'd known from the beginning that he didn't have a chance with her, he knew they could never be together...right from the moment in second year, when he first saw her after she'd been revived from being petrified by the Basilisk. Right from that moment when something snapped inside him at seeing her face...when he realised he loved her.  
  
"Potter!" Snape spat, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You think you know enough not to pay attention in MY class?"  
  
"Um...no, professor, I was just...I was.." Harry stammered. He felt very aware that most of the class were now staring at him.  
  
"Well then, you'll do the whole class the...honour...of demonstrating the potion I've just been telling them about for the past five minutes." He snarled.  
  
"But professor...I..." Harry started.  
  
"Everyone turn to Potter as he demonstrates how to make the hair-growing potion."  
  
_Hair growing?_ Harry stared at him in shock.  
  
"Well, get started." Snape growled menacingly at him.  
  
Harry looked at the ingredients in front of him beside his small cauldron, and glanced up at the blackboard, which had instructions on it, but Snape quickly stood in front of it.  
  
"Oh, you'll know this well enough not to look at the instructions, Potter."  
  
Harry gulped as he tried to make the potion from what he could remember on the board. Ten minutes later, he stirred in his final ingredient...and his cauldron made a small "Pop", as a puff of purple smoke rose and covered his face. In shock, he leapt back from the cauldron, forgetting that the stirring rod he was holding was still inside, which tipped the cauldron. He heard the class laughing, as the cauldron fell and spilled its contents onto his foot. He watched, in horror, as the clearing smoke revealed his foot, which had grown three times its normal size and had ripped painfully through his shoes. He also noticed that it was a bright purple colour, as he wiggled his bleeding toes, wincing at the pain.  
  
"Clearly, Potter, you weren't paying attention." Snape hissed as he waved his wand and cleared the spilled potion and cauldron from the floor. "I want 6ft of parchment on the properties of this potion for next lesson, Potter, and I want 4ft from the rest of you. Class dismissed." He yelled, as he went back to his desk, grumbling to himself.  
  
"Idiot, Potter." Malfoy smirked, staring at Harry's foot, before he left.  
  
"Come on, Harry." Hermione said. "We'd better get you to Madame Pomfrey...Ron, stop it, it's not funny."  
  
"I know, I'm sorry, mate." Ron said, trying to keep a straight face as Harry tried to hobble to the door, and promptly fell down at the off-balance of his feet.  
  
"Um, a little help here, guys?" He asked, as Hermione and Ron helped him up and each took one of his arms as they helped him up to the hospital wing. 


	2. Spells and Quidditch

** Chapter 2.**  
  
Ron and Hermione had helped the hobbling Harry up to the hospital wing, where Madame Pomfrey had given him a potion to reduce the size of his foot and to clear up the purple colour. She bandaged his bleeding toes and told him that he'd have to keep them on for a while, as the potion that could heal them cannot be taken with the potion he had already consumed to fix the size of his foot. He thanked her and hopped back towards the common room with Ron and Hermione. They bumped into Malfoy on the corridor outside the hospital wing.  
  
"Oh look! It's hop-along-Potter. How are you bigfoot?" he snorted, laughing.  
  
"Oh shut up." Harry said, and pushed by him. They turned to go and heard Malfoy yell.  
  
"_Tantallegra!_"  
  
Suddenly, and painfully, Harry's legs started dancing, hopping about from foot to foot.  
  
"Ow, Malfoy!" He winced at the pain. "Hermione?"  
  
Hermione nodded and got out her wand. "_Finite!_"  
  
Harry stopped dancing, and clutched his foot in pain. Hermione turned her wand to Malfoy, who was backing away, trying hard not to look scared.  
  
"W-What you gonna do, mudblood?" He stammered, dropping his own wand.  
  
Hermione smirked. "_Reducio!_" She yelled, wand pointed at his crotch. Malfoy's eyes widened and he bend at the waist slightly, clutching his crotch. His trousers looked a lot looser at the top.  
  
"Explain THAT to Madame Pomfrey!" Hermione laughed as they turned and walked away.  
  
"You'll pay, Granger, you'll pay!" Malfoy squeaked.  
  
Laughing, Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the common room and sat down.  
  
"So what exactly was it you done to him?" Ron asked, with a confused look on his face.  
  
"Well..." Hermione giggled, looking at Harry, who was smirking too.  
  
"What? Harry!" Ron asked, getting more and more agitated.  
  
"Well. The '_Reducio_' is...um...the..." she giggled. "Shrinking charm."  
  
Ron's eyes widened as he erupted with laughter. "Nice one, Hermione!" He laughed.   
  
---  
  
On Saturday morning, Harry woke up and sighed. Today was Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw, and the first Quidditch match he had missed in a long time. His foot was still sore, and Pomfrey had told him he couldn't play until it was fully healed, so he got up later than usual, for a Quidditch day, and joined Hermione in the common room.  
  
"Morning." He grumbled.  
  
"Hey Harry!" She smiled. "You coming for breakfast?"  
  
They went to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast, and Harry stared as the Gryffindor players left early to get ready, some of them smiling sympathetically before going.   
  
"I've got to go, mate." Ron said awkwardly. "See you later."  
  
"Yeah. Good luck." Harry said, looking down at his empty plate.  
  
"Don't worry about it, it's just one match!" Hermione reasoned as Ron left.  
  
"Yeah." He said, absent-mindedly.  
  
They left breakfast fifteen minutes later and walked out to the Quidditch pitch. It was strange for Harry, to not walk straight for the changing rooms, as normal, but to follow the rest of the crowd to the stands. They found their seats and waited for the match to begin.  
  
"I don't know why I can't just play." He moaned. "My foot's a lot better."  
  
"Madame Pomfrey just wants you to be safe...oh look, there's Ron...WOOOO!" She cheered as the players came on the pitch.   
  
Even Harry snapped out of his bad mood when the game started. Although it was annoying for him to just be watching, rather than playing. He cheered whenever Ron saved the ball, and let out an "Oooh" when Ron missed one. The game finished when the stand-in seeker, a third year girl, caught the snitch.  
  
Harry and Hermione cheered along with the other Gryffindors and went down to the changing rooms to meet Ron.  
  
"Well done!" Harry said when he went in. Hermione had insisted on waiting outside, muttering about "Boy's changing" and "smelly".  
  
When the other players saw Harry they came over.  
  
"Sorry about your foot!"   
  
"Yeah, well, I'll be back for the next match, just try keep me away!" He smiled. Ron quickly got changed and walked out with Harry.  
  
"Well done, Ron!" Hermione smiled when they came out.  
  
"Thanks!" Ron beamed. "It was a close call when Cho almost got the snitch, but thankfully the Ravenclaw beater didn't seem to have a good aim and sent that bludger at her, did you see?"  
  
"Yeah, Ron." Harry smiled. He missed the post-match high as well, and it was annoying that Ron had it and he didn't. 'Stupid Snape', he thought. 


	3. Going to Hermione's

**Chapter 3.**

_AN....Just a little thank you to all the wonderful reviews I've got for this so far! Thanks guys, you're the best :D (And in answer to one reviewer...the third year seeker is playing for Gryffindor...Harry's replacement, see? So Gryffindor won! Lol, hope that's cleared that up for you!)_

_Apologies...I know there are a few dating errors, and that the whole of June seemed to pass in one night. The first chapter said "In May", but I have now change it to "In June". I hope this doesn't cause too much confusion! I had made it earlier so it wasn't too last-minute, but it'll work out..._

After the celebration party in the common room, everyone went to bed quite late. Harry awoke quite groggy the next morning, very thankful that it was Sunday. He tried to sit up, but collapsed back onto his pillow. "Later," He thought, as he lay on his side, thinking. He was due to leave that afternoon with Hermione, to spend the whole summer with her. Sure, he'd spent time with Ron over summers past, but none with Hermione. She'd visit the Burrow, of course, but never for too long before school started again. He didn't know why he was so nervous.

A thought came into his head. 'The Dursleys.' Harry groaned as he rolled out of bed and got dressed and rifled through his bag for a spare piece of parchment and his quill. Scribbling a quick note ("Dear, dear Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. I won't be delighting you with my presence this summer, unfortunately. I'm going away with one of my friends. Tell Dudley-dear I'll miss him so much and send him a postcard. See you at Christmas! Your ever-loving nephew...Harry.") Grinning to himself, he folded the note away into his back pocket and headed up to the owlry. He found Hedwig perched near the ceiling. She saw him, hooted quietly and flew gracefully down to his arm, playfully pecking at his hand. He went to tie the note to her leg, and imagined the Dursleys looking at it in horror and confusion. He quickly scribbled "Open" on the outside of the rolled parchment before attaching it, hoping they would get the idea. He patted Hedwig on the head.

"And if they can't figure it out, peck their hands until they do!" He said with a smile, as she hooted approvingly before flying off into the morning sun.

---

A few hours later, Harry, Ron and Hermione were on the train, heading home.

"So tell me more about this cruise?" Ron asked Hermione, looking out the window at the passing countryside.

"Well it's two weeks in the Mediterranean, stopping in places like Italy, Spain, France etc."

"Sounds cool." Ron said, smirking at Harry.

"What?" Harry asked innocently.

"Nothing, mate!" Ron grinned. "Have fun, Harry!"

"Oh shut up."

"What IS he on about, Harry?" Hermione asked him.

"Oh nothing." Harry said, irritated, glaring at Ron who was giggling away to himself.

The rest of the journey was filled with a few awkward silences. _Great_, Harry thought. _This will make it more awkward between me and Hermione when Ron leaves._ When the train pulled to a halt, they grabbed their belongings and walked onto the platform, and through the wall onto the Muggle platform, where they saw the Grangers and the Weasleys, the two mothers deep in conversation, and the men looking about uncomfortably. Mr Weasley spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione coming off the train and smiled. "Here they are!" He alerted the rest of the group.

"I've not seen your aunt and uncle, Harry, is everything ok? Do you need help getting home? Are they on holiday? Do you want to come back to ours?" Mrs Weasley flooded him with questions.

"No, Mrs Weasley, it's ok. I'm spending the summer with Hermione!" He said.

"Oh, oh how wonderful!" Mrs Weasley beamed, making Harry blush slightly. "Well, I hope you have a great time, but we really need to be heading home to pack. Come along, Ron, give your case to your father."

Ron took Harry aside before he left.

"I'm sorry about...the train." He smiled.

"It's okay. It's just going to be really awkward now she thinks we know something she doesn't." Harry said, staring at his hands.

"But It's perfect, don't you see! You love her...you're spending the summer with her...which means _lots_ of alone time...do you really not see where I'm going with this?"

"Look Ron, it may seem 'Perfect' to you, but this is different. It's Hermione! I can't tell her anything like that, she's my friend..."

"Which makes it even more perfect. And that's where I'll have to leave you, mate." He said, clamping his hand on Harry's shoulder, seeing Molly looking at them impatiently. "Have a good summer....write...and good luck!" He grinned, before turning and leaving.

"See you in September!" Harry called after him, before joining the Grangers.

"Ready?" Mr Granger asked.

"Yep!" Harry said, dragging his case behind him. Hermione turned and smiled at him.

"You're doing great." She comforted.

"Thanks." He grinned nervously. He'd been worried about meeting the Grangers too, for they hadn't really spoken before. Of course, he'd had other things clouding his mind to allow much worrying. He watched the back of Hermione's head as she bobbed up to walk beside her mother, and sighed inwardly. _This is going to be a _long _summer._

_----_

Hermione's house was quite small, a lot similar to the Dursleys, although, a lot friendlier to Harry immediately. As soon as he stepped out of the car, he was pretty safe to assume he wouldn't spend his days locked in a cupboard under the stairs, and, at least, if he _was_, The Grangers would still give him decent meals and Hermione would talk to him. He grinned at the thought of them being alone in a cupboard..._wait...did I just think that?_ He said to himself, shaking his head as he took his case from the boot of the car and followed Hermione and Mrs Granger into the house. As they fussed through the door, Harry saw a steep set of stairs, and on the wall to his left were photographs of Hermione as a child. He grinned when he saw them.

"Awww." He said, looking at her.

"Oh shut up!" She said, hitting his arm.

"Haha." Mrs Granger laughed. "Right, well, the guest room is upstairs, Hermione, could you show him? I'm going to stick the kettle on."

"Right, right." She said, lifting her case and lifting it onto the bottom stair. "You coming?" She added to Harry.

"Yup." He said, following her. The top of the stairs curled round to a small hallway.

"Right, that's the bathroom there." She said, pointing to the door immediately to their left. "That's my room." She pointed to the door ahead of them. The door was slightly ajar and Harry could see a light purple wallpaper. "That's mum and dad's room." She gestured with her head at the next door to the right, as they moved along, leaving her case outside her own room. "And here's your room." She finished, opening the door directly opposite the bathroom. She let him through. There was a bed in the left corner, with a light blue and yellow duvet. The walls were a light blue, and, looking to the right he saw a chest of drawers with a television and stereo on top.

"Right, well, I'll leave you to get settled while I sort my case out. I'll be in my room if you need me." She smiled, and left him.

He sat down on the bed. "I'm in Hermione's house." The thought was surreal. Sure, he'd been at Ron's house, but he'd never been to Hermione's before, and the thought scared him a little. "Oh calm down." He said to himself. "You're _friends._" He ran his hand through his hair and took off his jumper, revealing a white t-shirt. He heard someone coming up the stairs, and heard a faint knock on the door before it opened.

"Everything ok?" Mrs Granger asked.

"Yes. Thank you." He smiled, very uncomfortable and unsure what to say to her.

"Good!" She smiled back, equally nervous. "Well, dinner will be in about half an hour, just something simple...do you like chicken nuggets and chips?"

"Yep, that'd be lovely, thanks."

"Ok. Well I'll be downstairs if you need anything." She smiled, before turning and leaving.

He looked about the room once more, in a bit more detail than before. There was a yellow mirror in the shape of a sun above the bed and wooden slat blinds on the window, there was also a small bedside table, with a lamp and a clock radio on top. He suddenly felt very embarrassed and unsure what to do. Getting up, he checked his reflection in the mirror, smoothing down his hair a bit (which didn't make any difference at all), and opened the door. He noticed more pictures of a younger Hermione on the walls, and there was a more recent picture on the windowsill, she looked about second-year-age. Holding his breath, he knocked a few times on what he hoped was Hermione's door.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah, come in!" She replied.

He opened the door. Her room was busy and fascinating. Just in front of the door was a tall stand reaching up to the ceiling, with seven or eight shelves. The bottom two shelves were filled with small teddies, and the rest were filled with books. Coming further into the room, he smiled at Hermione, who was sitting on her bed, (which was also purple...and scattered with cushions.) She looked back down to sorting out her clothes, and walked about busily, putting clothes in the wardrobe at the foot of her bed, or in the drawers beside her bed.

"Have a seat if you want." She smiled, gesturing to her desk on his left. He sat down on the purple swivel chair.

"So what day do we leave?" He asked, trying to think of conversation. It was so much more difficult out of school, he had realised.

"Um...yeah, I got it wrong when I told you in school, it's not a week, it's in 4 days, we leave on Thursday morning, is that ok?" She asked, hanging up her robes.

"Yeah." He said, noticing the storage boxes under her bed, which, from where Harry was sitting, looked like they were full of books also. He smiled to himself, _typical Hermione_.

"So, I was thinking." Hermione said after a silence. "About what we can do this week. I was thinking things like going to the cinema and stuff. That ok?"

"Sounds cool. I'm just happy to be in a 'normal' muggle house for once!" He said.

"Yeah. So did you write to the Dursleys then?" She asked, putting her socks into a drawer.

"Yeah. I sent them Hedwig. Just imagine their faces when she comes flying in expecting them to take the note!" He laughed.

"Oh Harry! You're terrible!" She giggled.

They sat there, making small conversation, as Harry watched her unpack, until Mrs Granger came up to tell them dinner was ready. Harry followed Hermione downstairs, back into the hallway they had first come into. Harry noticed, this time, a glass chess set which sat on a dresser.

"Chess, cool!" He said, staring at it.

"Yeah. Not wizards chess, sadly. My dad would have a fit if the pieces acted the way your's do!" Hermione laughed.

"Yeah." He said, as he followed her into the living room, which was large, with a warm red carpet and white leather chairs. The room opened out into a dining room facing the back garden. They took their seats at the table, opposite Mr Granger who was already sitting.

"Hey!" He said, smiling.

"What do you want to drink?" Mrs Granger said, coming out of where Harry assumed was the kitchen.

"Um...can I have milk please?" Hermione asked.

"Erm...just water's fine." Mr Granger smiled at his wife.

"Harry?"

"Um...I'll have milk too." He said nervously, and deciding that the best option would be to have what Hermione was having.

She returned a few minutes later with their drinks, before disappearing back into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with two plates, which she laid in front of Harry and Hermione.

"Thanks, mum!"

"Thank you Mrs Granger."

She went back into the kitchen one last time, bringing out the plates for herself and Hermione's dad. Dinner was a little awkward, Harry had no idea what to say to Hermione's parents...or even to Hermione, for that matter, and the Grangers were unsure themselves how to talk to Harry, although they tried their best with polite conversation. Just after he had stammered through describing Quidditch to a still-confused Mr Granger when Mrs Granger had taken away their plates and was in the kitchen, Harry jumped slightly as he felt Hermione's hand on his own, which was on his leg under the table.

He turned to her and smiled shyly, to see that she was smiling back at him.

"You're doing great." She whispered assuringly.


End file.
